Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
    For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
jaypeak88
Posts: 54
Joined: 10/19/2008
14ers: 18 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Post by jaypeak88 »

I'm heading out from Connecticut to try and climb Elbert around June 12 and have been following the snow conditions recently. It seems like that part of the Sawatch has gotten a good amount of snow and that it won't even be close to melted out by mid June.

While its hard to tell weeks in advance, do those who have done this climb think it would be possible with snowshoes? Or if the snow goes through daily melt/freeze cycles leading up to this point, would the snow be walkable without snowshoes? Just trying to prepare as much as possible in terms of the conditions.


Thanks!
User avatar
randalmartin
Posts: 1531
Joined: 5/4/2008
14ers: 58  1 
13ers: 53 2
Trip Reports (13)
 

Re: Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Post by randalmartin »

I seriously doubt you would need snowshoes or any other form of traction/flotation by the middle of June on Elbert. If there is snow left it would be easily avoided and mostly in shaded areas off trail.
jaypeak88
Posts: 54
Joined: 10/19/2008
14ers: 18 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Post by jaypeak88 »

Do you think that will be the case even with the snow the Sawatch has had recently? It seems like people who have tried Elbert or Massive recently have run into some problems with the deep snow.
User avatar
randalmartin
Posts: 1531
Joined: 5/4/2008
14ers: 58  1 
13ers: 53 2
Trip Reports (13)
 

Re: Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Post by randalmartin »

jaypeak88 wrote:Do you think that will be the case even with the snow the Sawatch has had recently? It seems like people who have tried Elbert or Massive recently have run into some problems with the deep snow.
Yes. I was on Massive yesterday and was one of those that posted about the conditions. But mid June is 4 weeks away and plenty of time to melt most of that off. There are clearly sections/snowfields on many 14ers that will still have a lot of snow but the Elbert standard route is not one of them. There will definitely be some snow near the top but not anything requiring an axe or traction and certainly not flotation.
Last edited by randalmartin on Mon May 17, 2010 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
shaun
Posts: 61
Joined: 4/14/2009
14ers: 1 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Post by shaun »

jaypeak88 wrote:Do you think that will be the case even with the snow the Sawatch has had recently? It seems like people who have tried Elbert or Massive recently have run into some problems with the deep snow.
I climbed Elbert in early June (perhaps 1st or 2nd) 2008, which was a pretty heavy year for snow in the Sawatch. Nearly everything on the NE trail was clear with the exception of about 1/4 of a mile from the treeline, which had some drifts that were knee to thigh deep. I could detour around some of them, but had to post-hole through others. Regardless of that, though, snowshoes were useless...by the afternoon, the snow's consistency was awful and wouldn't support any flotation.
Pivvay
Posts: 243
Joined: 7/18/2006
14ers: 23 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Post by Pivvay »

I doubt you'll need snowshoes but who knows. More snow on the way!
User avatar
Fred North
Posts: 59
Joined: 2/19/2007
14ers: 5 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Post by Fred North »

Was heading for Elbert last year in mid June but it was buried. I am a flatlander with no show shoes. Headed for Bierstadt instead and it was snow covered but no snow shoes needed. Would have been nice to have the micro spikes though. It can still be snowy and cold in June. Just be prepared.
Exactly...these go to 11 -- Nigel Tufnel
jaypeak88
Posts: 54
Joined: 10/19/2008
14ers: 18 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Elbert Mid June/Snowshoes

Post by jaypeak88 »

Sounds great everyone, thanks for the input!